The Fate Of The Duels
by a440
Summary: #3 of The Thomson/Taylor Chronicles, we discover two former students of Lawndale High, who lost all, and now those two former lovers discreetly prepare to travel to an unplanned meeting place for some mano a mano--or is it something else?
1. Prologue

The Fate Of The Duels

A trademark of MTV

#3 of The Thomson/Taylor Chronicles.

Despte their personas, some people can have feelings--and feelings of revenge as well.  
--a440.

Prologue Two former students of Lawndale High. One dropout, the other, a bimbo. Both had been married to different people.......but what they didn't count on the day those spouses would run off with each other, taking their children with them, only to all die in an auto crash after partying up in Vegas.......all of which left their married ones whom they had married before, in the dust. Now, after so many years,  
those jilted students, known as Kevin Thomson and Brittany Taylor, began to have some thoughts-  
fateful thoughts in which revenge was the first thing on their minds...........which was where the story started............

Now, inspired by a deadly muse, those two, miles apart in two different parts of America prepared to make a fateful journey to a meeting place.......a place for the most unlikely event, gnawing on their minds,  
known to some as the fate of the duels........

Maybe those two former jocks may not be as dumb as we thought. Will it be a real duel or a reconciliation? Or something else?  
--a440.

Coming up: Chapter 1: Casino Royalty 


	2. Casino Royalty

How does one define ambition?  
--a440

Chapter 1: Casino Royalty

Vegas, Nevada.

Translated from the spanish as the meadows, that name was somewhat of a misnomer, as there was almost hardly any green, save for the gardens, house yards in the burbs,  
as well as the golf courses here and there. But here in Sin City, as it was called, that hardly mattered, because the only green to found there was money. And money was what most people came here to gamble for.

Yet all that hardly mattered for the least likely fellow to book a room in one of the third rate hotel and casino places in the downtown section of Vegas, particularly the 25 level Casino Royale, which had its rooftop pool level, and though it wasn't as fancy as it used to be back in the 1950s, when compared today with the modern times places, it was still an ideal, if not decent place to play, eat and stay in Vegas,  
when it came to its huge multicolored neon marquee like sign with its yellow crown, which was duplicated atop the giant bulb lighted time and temp sign on the building's upper spire. But for Kevin Thomson, the former QB of Lawndale High, now a divorcee, it was just fine for his liking when he came that day, during a long, solo roadtrip of walking, getting a room on the fifth floor, which overlooked much of the Vegas skyline, as well as the Vegas Strip in the distance. but the fact that Kevin had a cousin named Vance who was the current owner and general manager of the place,  
sort of had a hand in it.

Now, as sunset approached, the buildings and streets were glowing with neon, while up in the fifth floor room, (cue Led Zeppelin's No Quarter) the plasma high def wall mounted TV showing the Pigskin Channel News, also on a smaller LCD wall mounted TV in the bathroom, on a toilet lid, thinking a lot, if thinking was the word for Lawndale's idiotic minded resident, was Kevin, his chin on his left hand,glancing at the sink; among his bath belongings, were his toothbrush, toothpaste, Macho Man Up liquid soap, ELektrik Razor razor, pit deodorant, rubber ducky and dental floss, were two Uzi machine guns and a box of ammo packs.

Now Kevin may had been dumb then, but even so, he had feelings too,  
and that he wasn't so dumb to know he had been bawled out by a now former girlfriend, not to mention Lawndale High's only dropout. And worst of all, his said now evil girlfriend having lied to him. And though he married someone else, it wasn't the same.

Brittany. She had lied and jilted the former QB. And even QBs had feelings Feelings of revenge, so when he heard on the news that Brittany had vanished without a trace after having been jilted by her husband and child, who in turn lost their lives by accident, he had an inkling where she would be taking off to--a place where she and Kevin first met, before they had moved to Lawndale,  
and now, even as her departure from her once fancy home she had during her marriage an unfaithful spouse, who along with her no good children, all dead, took off with the former QB's own wife and children as well, meeting a similar poetic justice on the way.

That wasn't all the burned in the brain of Kevin Thomson--the fact that during his years in Lawndale High were absolute grief, of playing the punching bag to Brittany who, more often than not, punched the hurt the former QB, and sometimes got arrested on assult and battery charges, people claimed she did the right thing in punching Kevin, that she had a heart of gold, but to Kevin, that was a heart of gold that head cheerleader had--a heart of fool's gold. And even an idiot knew how much abuse to take. And though people bagered at the QB to , "let it go, forgive and forget, it's water under the bridge, there's a lot of other fish in the sea, it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, etc," all that hardly mattered to Kevin, as he felt he had his share of bull crap, and the time had come, after so many long years, for something that to some, was considered the most unlikely thing of all--payback for what Brittany did.

That was why Kevin was hiding out on a lone quest, here in The Casino Royale--to prepare and make the long journey to track down the girlfriend he thought he loved and settle it out with her in a confrontation, at the risk of his own life, having been raised on Pulp Fiction and Scarface, as well as mostly Cowboy Bebop; indeed he could relate to the hotheaded character of the show, Spike Spiegel, formerly of The Red Dragons. Indeed, if Kevin were Spike, that would, in his POV, make Brittany Vicious, pardon the pun. And in choosing The Casino Royale, the QB knew it was a right choice, because in exchange of doing odd jobs like deliver food supplies to the hotel kitchens and and clean the rooftop pool for his cousin's place, Kevin got a discount on the prices for his stay there.

Coming out from his train of thought, the QB got up, stared at the wall Tv, then answered nature's call and flushed the toilet and then turned off the TV, coming out and with the Uzis and cartridges piled in a box, and kicked back on the bed, seeing The Pigskin Channel on the plasma, the box under the bed, till there was a knock on the door, bringing a blonde version of the dumbminded QB--cousin Vance Thomson--who said, "Hey, Kev, how you doin'?"

"Donin' great so far, Vance," said Kevin. "Thanks for everything and for the room."

"An' thanks for helping me out here," said Vance. "Ain't it a kind of ironuy, staying here in a place with vacationers in mind and having to work for it? But anything for my cous. Say, by the way, you planning to do some Pulp Fiction questing?"

"What you say that?" said a puzzled QB.

"The fact you got some Uzis on you," said Vance, "means you've a Cowboy Bebop vendetta in mind. Hey,  
I see TV myself and dig Bebop myself. Some kind of enemy you after?"

"Just a bimbo blonde who was a rah rah," replied Kevin.

"Oh, you're carrying a torch on account of a cheerleader.," said Vance. "Stay away from those cheerleaders, they'll eat you for lunch and y' know what? Those jilted love affairs suck-a-roo like the dickens. Anyhow, if I were you, I suggest you use some advice I learned from a gal I dated during a junket I once took in Colombia............"

Pulp Fiction and Cowboy Bebop, Daria style.........that sums it up.  
--a440.

Coming up: Chapter 2: The Blonde's Ambition Tour 


	3. The Blonde's Ambition Tour

You'd think with all that travel, those jock jokers could stick to a simple path.  
--a440

Chapter 2: The Blonde's Ambition Tour

Meanwhile, in Omaha, Nebraska, it was a business as usual night at the Weeping Willow Motel, a blue four level adobe stucco building bordered on the roof trim with green neon, surrounded by (what else?) weeping willows, when at the office for registrations, the owner,  
Ted Strife, who looked like a teen version of The Kurgan from The Highlander, was taken by surprise when it came to the arrival of the pigtailed blonde who came with her bags and, strapped to her back, a five foot long bundle like package.

Examing the blonde, in a black blouse with bow and mini skirt,  
Ted asked, "What can I do for you?"

"I'd like a room for a few days," said the blonde.

"And we'll get you one toot suite," said Ted. "Your name?"

"Brittany Taylor," was the reply.

"Not THE Brittany Tsylor of Lawndale High," said Ted in surprise. "My dad used to play for the Lawndale Lions."

"That so?" said Brittany. "Well, if you see a black haired guy my age, give me a call, OK?"

"Will do," said Ted, who handed the blonde a form, adding, "Just fill in the form and we'll get you a room."

And Brittany did just that, paying in cash after that and getting a key,  
then heading out the door, Ted saying, "Sleep well."

"Will do," said Brittany, who paused to blow a brisk toodleoo kiss.

Once safe in room 403 on the fourth level of the motel, Brittany looked over the interior which was white and pink plaster, with clean white deep carpet, a decent bed with red sheets, a high def TV on the wall and a equally clean red tiled bathroom with a pull up window shade over the toilet. (cue The Doors' Yes, The River Knows) From there, the blonde turned on the TV and tuned into ABC Nightline,  
then unwrapped her bundle, revealing two five foot long katana type samurai swords in their sheaths, gold armor on the swords, and a black pearl finish on the scabbards; those she carefully placed in the closet,  
along with the rest of her stuff, then set her toiletry bag next to the bathroom sink, then, on a spur of the moment, turned off the bathroom lights, half illuminated by the bedroom's light and half illuminated by the baleful stroboscopic lighting of a flashing neon sign from a hamburger stand next door, as the flashing multicolored light shone on the bathroom's drawn shade, half lighting up the former Lawndale High cheerleader's face, making her look like some emo goth girl, as she stared in the mirror over the sink, her thoughts in a deep reverive, a state of mind, in effect.

Kevvy...........

That idiot. Why did she ever wind up with him, ever since they first met long ago,  
then, bothe familes moving to Lawndale, where by some fate, were reunited at Lawndale High, where they had been chosen at the urging of their parents, to be the head cheerleader and QB respectively, and more often than not, give each other a lot of grief. And not content with parting ways, they were unprepared when each other's married spouses ran off with each other, only to die in an accident. Now,  
the only thing that fueled her rage was revenge. Revenge on the nicompoop known as Kevin Thomson for once and for all, so acting on instinct, she sold everything she had, and on a wing and a prayer, took a roadtrip that now placed her in The Weeping Willow Motel.

And if her quest did lead to murder? To murder her former boyfriend? Would she be sent to jail? Impossible; Brittany believed what she did was justifiable homicide,  
that no court would convict her because the police, as a rule, were supposed to be more sympathetic to women like her. At least it was what she told herself. And even if she went to jail, even if it entailed life in prison, if not--ugh--the death penalty, it would be worth it, a small price to pay, even if it meant a one way ticket to Hell.  
Then again.........

"Guys suck," muttered the former head cheerleader, before she went back to the bedroom and laid on the bed, glancing at ABC Nightline, pondering her next move and wondering what she was doing in a place like Omaha.

For Brittany Taylor, tomorrow would be the same as before........

Fret none--the chapters get longer as we will soon see.  
--a440.

Coming up: Chapter 3: Rootin' Tootin' Tucumcari. 


	4. Rootin' Tooin' Tucumcari

What's up with all the traveling?  
When does the action start?  
--a440

Chapter 3: Rootin' Tootin' Tucumcari

Some historians claimed the name Tucumcari (pronounced as Two Come Carry,  
located in New Mexico, was an old Native American name meaning 2000 Motel Rooms, however the real origin stemmed between two lovers, a brave named Tocom and Kari, the daughter of an old chief who in turn, selected the said Tocom to duel with Tonopah, a rival brave; the winner would not only be the chief's successor, but would also be Kari's betrothed. But as fate decreed, Tonopah used some cheating tricks to stab Tocom dead, but didn't count on Kari stabbing the cruel brave, prior to her ending her own life after that. When the chief head of the tragedy, he took his daughter's knife she had used and ended his own life the same way, though not before calling out, "Tocom!! Kari!!"

One thing was for sure: the specters of Tocom and Kari were unprepared for the arrival of a vengeful Kevin Thomson, who was now staying at The Blue Swallow Motel, one of the most famous motels alongside Route 66, glowing with blue neon, making it the ultimate night light in a way. And the former QB, after loaded his Uzi guns, stashed then in the closet of his motel room, before taking a walk down the mainstreet at night, taking in the many neons and old cars crusing up and down the streets, the sound of The Chords' Sh Boom playing on some of the passing car radios. Finally, the jock came to and entered The Rainbow Cafe, which was part cafe and part roadhouse, a huge neon rainbow with THE RAINBOW CAFE below that, above the front door with its two windos flanking the door where Kevin entered.

Inside, the interior had some beer neon signs, flat screens showing the news, 50's type seats, tables and booths, Route 66 relics, as well as a long soda fountain, and, in a white t shirt reading LAWNDALE FOREVER, with red ringleted curls was no doubt the barmaid, if not the owner, whose eyes lit when the QB took his seat at the counter; spotting the shirt the lady was wearing, he said, "Cool!! You were from Lawndale High?"

"Used to be," said the redhead, "till I had to drop out due to my bad grades as a cheerleader and never graduated."

"Same with me," said Kevin, "an' I was the QB there." From there, he outlined, despite his limited IQ, his dilemma, after which, the barmaid said gloomily, "That sucks. So I left long before you ever enrolled in Laaaaaaaawndale High."

"You had Ms. Li?" said the QB. "So did I."

"Wild," said the lady, who stuck out her hand for a shake. "Name's Elise Valentine, barmaid and owner of The Rainbow Cafe. You?"

"Kevin Thomson, former QB for The Lawndale Lions," replied the jock.

From there, was a night the QB would never forget, as Elise set before a burger and fries meal, and even shared stories of their troubles, and how they got jilted by their lovers; when Kevin told the owner of his quest to confront Brittany,  
she paled in concern, saying, "I don't blame you wantin' to settle the score. If I was lied to and stuff by my BF--which I was-  
I'd take a shotgun to his stinky hide. But if you wanna do it right, then allow me to give you some advice........."

For a time, during his stay at The Blue Swallow Motel, Kevin earned money working for Elise (who, unlike Brittany, had a lot of patience) at The Rainbow Cafe, getting lessons in cooking and how to pick the best football scores. Without the pressures of school and football, the QB had all the time to finally sharpen his brains in the best way and come to his senes. But his mind wasn't just on his learning a new lease of life--it was on the score he would settle on some self righteous blonde that twirled her pig tails.

After his stint in the motel, Kevin packed up and resumed his trek to the southeast........though not before getting some parting advice (and a kiss) from Elise.....................

Could it be that everyone's fave QB is finally getting some smarts? Well, better late than never. It'll be a miracle though, if the PO-LICE don't get wise to what the jock and the bimbo's got in mind.  
--a440

Coming up: Chapter 4: Finale Analysis 


	5. Finale Analysis

The final confrontation is at hand, and the destination is reached.......  
whose fight style reigns supreme?  
--a440

Chapter 4: Finale Analysis

Key West, Florida.

The extreme section, the tip of The Sunshine state, like an outside extension of America within the Atlantic Ocean. Where key lime pie was born. Where Hemingway was born. And now it was where Kevin Solomon Thomson and Brittany Celine Taylor were born--before they moved to Lawndale, Maryland, without each other knowing of it......that is, until they met again in Lawndale High. And it was also here, on a medium sized flat grassy and rocky bluff on the extreme tip of Key West,  
a seven foot drop to the Atlantic Ocean below, that they would meet again, under different circumstances.

Brittany, in her black blouse and bow, along with her black skirt, arrived at that spot ahead of Kevin, her katana swords in their scabbards, strapped to her waist, the blonde waiting for her adversary, having spent last night in Florida, in what she thought was a clean motel called The Cottonwood, but upon waking up in the morning, she found out she was in a fleabag of a motel, with near rusted bathroom tiles, a used Band Aid on the floor, and short sheets on the bed. Now, here where she stood, she waited, ready to settle it out with the one whose wife took off with her husband and died on the road, the one who drove her crazy with his stupidity and his antics--her former boyfriend, Kevin.

As if on cue, traveling on foot, wearing the same outfit worn by Cowboy Bebop's Spike Spiegel, an Uzi in each hand, was Kevin, who looked worn out from all that walking, as he stopped two yards before Brittany, then said, "OK, babe--er, make that former babe, the time's now. Let's kick some butt."

"Listen, you &*%#$^," said the blonde, "only I can kill you, just like Vicious did to Spike. Besides, I can never forgive you for allowing your wife to run off with my husband."

"You should talk," shot back the QB. "Your spouse took off with my wife, for that matter,  
I STILL haven't forgiven you for punching me out, and lying to me at graduation, crossin' your fingers when you made the promise, and all that crummy stuff!!"

"I had my reasons for doing so," staed the bimbo. "No gal in her right mind wants to be stuck with the world's stupidest guy like you, you.......rodent!!"

"Serpent!!" shot back Kevin.

"Bastard!!" said Brittany.

"Pig!!" said Kevin.

"Bum!!" said Brittany.

"Bimbo!!" said Kevin.

"Loser!!" said Brittany.

"Harpy!!" said Kevin.

"Chauvinist!!" said Brittany."

"Harlot!!" said Kevin.

"Dirty Dog!!" said Brittany.

"Pussycat!!" said Kevin.

"Pussycat?" said Brittany, now taken aback by that word, then added, "No matter, stand and fight, Kevvy!! Someone's going home a winner, but it won't be you!!"

"To the settling of everything!!" said Kevin, turning off the Uzi safeties, "En garde, babe!!"

Jumping up in the air, the blonde swung her two swords in the hopes of cutting off her boyfriend's head--and that was when the QB swiftly stepped aside, avoiding the blade. In fact he sidestepped every swing of the head cheerleader's swords, Brittany unable to believe that her stupid minded idiotic boyfriend could be so smart in countering her moves, turnedand tried to bring her swords down on his head, but Kevin used his Uzi to block the blows, then jumped back before firing his guns at the blonde who dodged them, and tried to cut off his feet, only for Kevin to jump up each time, saying, "An ice cold sundae.....and ice cold punch......such is the name of the Lawndale Lions bunch."

Panting, Brittany could only say, "It's impossible.......how'd get get so smart in countering my moves? Back then you'd be so stupid in avoiding my punches and allow them to land."

"From seeing reruns of Cowboy Bebop, andall thos neat moves Spike did," replied the QB,  
"along with some advice picked up during my travels."

"But you can't keep up yor dirty tricks forever," said Brittany. "Sooner or later, you've GOT to slip up, given your stupidity, and fall."

"Ah, shaddap!!" growled the QB, who gave a long rude belch in the bimbo's face; the blonde responded with a simiar belch back in his face, after that, the two were belching in each other's faces nonstop, till the jock said, "OK, turkey babe, you asked for it!!"

"Bring it on!!"said Brittany, readying her swords for the coupe de grass, just as Kevin got his Uzi guns aimed................then both people stood ready with their weapons..............both people took a leap towards each other, using their weapons at the same time.......and then,  
both people fell--Brittany dead and Kevin injured, staggering across till he was at the edge of the bluff, then muttered, "Bang..............," before falling over the edge, splashing into the ocean below..........

To quote the saying in Cowboy Bebop's The Real Folk Blues, you're going to carry that weight.  
--a440.

Coming up: Epilogue.


	6. Eplilogue

Float like a feather, sting like a hornet--  
no, that ain't it. Oh, we're back.  
--a440.

Epilogue

Despite the up to date methods and efforts, the Florida police and the Coast Guard were unable to locate the body of Kevin Thomson when he fell in the ocean. For that matter, no one was able to solve the murder of Brittany Taylor, particularly since the Uzi bullets used in her murder were unmarked, making it tough for even the CSI Miami staff to trace them, so it was assumed that the blonde took a vacation in Key West, only to run in into some Cuban criminals and picked the wrong time to tell them to take a flying sex at the moon. As of today, the mystery rimained unsolved even today, considering the investigators conducting their work at the time were taken off the case, which in turn was later tagged as unsolved.

And Kevin? He may had been a dumb idot, but not so dumb that he couldn't learn how to take precautions and change everything around when it came to not leaving clues for the police. For that was the advice Vance, and later Elise had given, using unmarked Uzi bullets in his guns, supplied by Vance's then girlfriend, Penny Lane, who had gotten the ammo packs in Colombia,  
combined with a rule of thumb Vance had given his cousin--to wipe off all fingerprints from the ammo and guns, and to wear rubber gloves when using guns. And it was Elise, who was, like the QB, a big fan of Cowboy Bebop, that taught the jock how to maove fast, just like Spike, by trying to keep calm as water and know when to react (just like in the story Waltz For Venus) before moving out of the way. And as to how he lived to tell after he had been slashed in the side by the head cheerleader's katana swords, he was lucky, having been picked up by an old trash scow full of Cuban crewmen, who in turn, took the QB to a nearby clinic, where the wound, which, lucky still, wasn't a deep cut, but a flesh wound, so it was bandaged. After which, Kevin hitched a ride with some potheads, then stowed on a freight train to New Mexico.

And that was how the former Lawndale High QB got even with his girlfriend.

You might think that Kevin would come back to Lawndale and start over with his parents, now that Brittany was out of the picture--but the QB discovered that he liked living in Tucumcari, New Mexico, having married Elise, and working at The Rainbow Cafe, learning a new trade and inventing football styled recipies which, along with the cafe, won the number one spot on the Zagat survey, making the jock, his wife and their place big time celebrities worldwide, if not on Route 66, even getting featured on TMZ and The Pigskin Channel, and so, he decided to stay there.

the end

Sometimes it takes more than to just be famous, right?  
Well, let's just hope the K man gets back on the tracks,  
as proof that even as a dummy in a world of hard times,  
America is still the land of opportunity.

Once again, the story is dedicated to Marc Thomson --a440. 


End file.
